SEMICONDUCTOR_MATERIALS_AND_PROPERTIES

Semiconductor Materials and
Properties
Learning Objectives
At the end of this presentation, the student should be able
to:
▪ gain a basic understanding of a few semiconductor
material properties including the two types of charged
carriers that exist in a semiconductor and
▪ the two mechanisms that generate currents in a
semiconductor.
Semiconductor materials
▪ Elements in Group IV are elemental semiconductors.
▪ The elements in group III and group V are also important in
semiconductors.
Intrinsic Semiconductors
Intrinsic Semiconductors
▪ An intrinsic semiconductor is a single-crystal semiconductor material with
no other types of atoms within the crystal.
▪ In an intrinsic semiconductor, the densities of electrons and holes are
equal, since the thermally generated electrons and holes are the only
source of such particles.
Extrinsic Semiconductors
▪ Since the electron and hole concentrations in an intrinsic
semiconductor are relatively small, only very small
currents are possible.
▪ However, these concentrations can be greatly increased by
adding controlled amounts of certain impurities.
Extrinsic Semiconductor: N-type
▪ For example, when a phosphorus atom substitutes for a silicon atom, the
5th valence electron is more loosely bound to the phosphorus atom
▪ When the 5th phosphorus valence electron moves into the conduction
band, a positively charged phosphorus ion is created.
▪ The phosphorus atom is called a donor impurity. This process is called
doping
▪ A semiconductor that contains donor impurity atoms is called an n-type
semiconductor
Extrinsic Semiconductor: P-type
▪ When a boron atom replaces a silicon atom, its three valence electrons
are used to satisfy the covalent bond requirements for 3/4 nearest silicon
atoms. This leaves one bond position open
▪ Because the boron atom has accepted a valence electron, the boron is
therefore called an acceptor impurity.
▪ A semiconductor that contains acceptor impurity atoms is called a p-type
semiconductor
Extrinsic Semiconductors
Drift and Diffusion Currents
The two basic processes which cause electrons and holes to
move in a semiconductor are:
(a) drift, which is the movement caused by electric
fields, and
(b) diffusion, which is the flow caused by variations in
the concentration, that is, concentration gradients.
Drift Current Density
▪ Assume an electric field is applied to a semiconductor. The
field produces a force that acts on free electrons and holes,
which then experience a net drift velocity and net
movement.
Drift Current Density: n-type
Drift Current Density: p-type
Drift Current Density: Total
Example 3
Diffusion Current Density
▪ In the diffusion process, particles flow from a region of high
concentration to a region of lower concentration.
▪ We can assume that, approximately half of the particles in the
lower concentration region are moving toward the high-
concentration region.
▪ The net result is a flow of particles away from the high-
concentration region and toward the lower-concentration region.
This is the basic diffusion process.
Diffusion Current Density
Example 4
Drift & Diffusion Current Density
Excess Carriers
▪ When a voltage is applied to, or a current exists in, a semiconductor device,
the semiconductor is really not in equilibrium.
▪ Valence electrons may acquire sufficient energy to break the covalent bond
and become free electrons if they interact with high-energy photons
incident on the semiconductor. When this occurs, both an electron and a
hole are produced, thus generating an electron–hole pair. These additional
electrons and holes are called excess electrons and excess holes.
▪ If the semiconductor is in a steady-state condition, the creation of excess
electrons and holes will not cause the carrier concentration to increase
indefinitely, because a free electron may recombine with a hole, in a
process called electron–hole recombination.
▪ Excess carriers are involved in the current mechanisms of, for example,
solar cells and photodiodes.
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